University of North Carolina Athletics
GoHeels Exclusive: Football Notebook
April 2, 2019 | Football, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
When Mack Brown met with reporters last Tuesday, he expressed some concerns about the North Carolina football team, a majority of which related to how the players were grasping the new offensive and defensive schemes.
A week later, the head coach said the players are making strides in that area.
"They are getting better," said Brown after Tuesday's practice inside the Indoor Practice Facility. "I like what we're doing on both sides of the ball. I think it really fits who we are right now and what we need.
"The offense is a quarterback's dream. They're changing plays on the field. They're going run or pass on the field. So if I'm a quarterback, it's great, plus it's simple but looks complicated. Coach (Jay) Bateman has got so many ways to blitz without having to play man all the time; he can bring people from different areas. And we are learning a lot more about it."
Here are four more notes from Tuesday's media availability:
The spring game's importance
With the spring game just over a week away, Brown answered some questions Tuesday about the event. Among those were one about what he hopes the spring game can become.
"We ended up with 50,000 fans at Texas, and that's what I'd like to see here," he said. "I'd like to see it full. I'd like to see it as a fun day, a huge recruiting day for us and something that people start marking their calendars for."
Brown said he knows that'll be a challenge. But that's his goal. He then recalled a conversation that he had with a sports psychologist during his time as the head coach at Tulane.
"(The sports psychologist) said that your team is only as committed as your coaches, your administration and your fans," Brown said. "Our fans want us to be really good in football again, so you need to show that by buying season tickets and showing up every time we have a football event. That's the message. It takes us all."
Second scrimmage thoughts
On Saturday, UNC held the second of four spring scrimmages, including the spring game on April 13. Brown shared his takeaways from the 70-play scrimmage on Tuesday.
"I know they weren't all full speed, so we need full-out effort out of everybody," he said. "We don't have a lot depth in some positions so guys have to learn they've just got to go full speed, and we're not going to accept anything less."
Quarterbacks continue learning
Brown was asked Tuesday about his impressions of quarterbacks Cade Fortin, Jace Ruder and Sam Howell. And his remarks about each of them were rather positive.
"I told the quarterbacks (Monday) that if we were at Texas and we were looking at recruits, we'd recruit all three of them," he said. "They're all three very good. We also told them there would be no pressure in the spring to see who would start because it's unfair to ask those guys, until they learn the offense as much as they have to learn, to start competing every minute for the job.
"So instead of that, we said, 'Go learn the offense and then we're going to start deciding who needs to be playing more in the fall.' I told them that (Monday). I just said, 'We're proud of all three of you. You're all three great. … Just learn the offense and show us what you've got.'"
Montilus' progression
After redshirting his first season in Chapel Hill, offensive lineman Ed Montilus is progressing this spring, increasing his reps at left guard.
"Ed is really strong," Brown said. "He is playing really well for us. He's not consistent yet. I just asked him, 'How do you think you did today?' And he said, 'Not very good.' But he really tries. He's smart. When he knows what to do and he's excited about it, he can do it really well. He's one of the biggest surprises we've had for spring."
